


Inside Bucky Barnes and Captain America's Renovated Brooklyn Townhouse | Open Door

by lyn7



Series: Popular on Youtube [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Actor Bucky Barnes, Domestic Fluff, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Husbands, Interior Decorating, M/M, Married Couple, Married Life, Schmoop, Shrunkyclunks, Social Media, YouTube, audience pov, awful descriptions of interior decor, journalist pov, limited vocab, perfect world AU, pure bucky barnes, steve spoils bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 09:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15240285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyn7/pseuds/lyn7
Summary: In this episode of Open Door, actor and director Bucky Barnes (James in ‘Secret life of a Teenage Super Spy,’ Sergeant Buchanan in ‘1941’, and director of documentary ‘The First Avenger’) and Avenger/ Superhero/ National Icon Steve Rogers (Subject of documentary ‘The First Avenger) gives us a full-access house tour around their Brooklyn home.





	Inside Bucky Barnes and Captain America's Renovated Brooklyn Townhouse | Open Door

**Author's Note:**

> Most of this was written during ao3's tragic server downfall yesterday, no ragrets.

“Hi!” As soon as we’re up the steps and in front of the gorgeous double doors of the Brooklyn brownstone, we’re immediately greeted by Bucky Barnes, all smiles and docked in the homey attire of a grey knitted sweater and jeans, leaning casually on the wooden doors. Beside him, the tall figure of our nation’s most beloved captain stands straight with a matching genuine smile.

“I’m Bucky, and this is my lovely husband Steve-” The actor-turned-director reached out and touched his partner lightly on the arm and the strong man relaxed visibly.

“Hello.” The blonde man’s wave is a little awkward and shy. Wearing simple khakis and a white t-shirt, he is certainly different from the strong, uniform-wearing superhero the public knows him for.

“-and welcome to our home, come on in!” Bucky finished with a dramatic spread of arms, then beckoned at us to follow him through the doors

 

-

 

The couple first lead us into the entrance hall of their home, immediately we can sense that this house is a lived-in space, with evidence of their everyday lives littered throughout the space(car keys inside a gold lined vintage glass bowl on top of a shoe shelf, a lit candle jar next to it)

“So we really should have tidied up better for this, but the both of us actually just came back yesterday night from our respective jobs, so bear with the mess.” Steve waved at the said shoe shelf with a small laugh. “Bucky was filming in LA and I was in DC.”

“We actually have a place in both those places as well, but this is where we prefer to spend our time when I’m not away shooting a movie or when Steve is busy saving the world.” Bucky gestured around the area. The entrance way is narrow-as most brownstone homes, but brightly lit and the staircase is a beautiful vintage affair, with decorative railings that emit a timeless grace, the whole staircase is painted black in stark contrast to the white paneled walls, a hint of modern minimalism that adds to the beauty of the set.

“We’re both from Brooklyn so it made sense for us to come back when we wanted to settle down. This is actually the first place we looked at and we just immediately fell in love with it, it just felt like home.” Bucky turned to his husband and the couple shared a knowing smile.

“Come on through, let’s give you guys a little tour.”

They laced their fingers together and motioned at us to follow them down the hallway.

 

 

-

 

“So, this is pretty much the entire first floor, it used to be sectioned into rooms, but when we moved in we decided we’ll knock all the walls down.” The actor explained as he lead us through the arched doorway at the end of the very short hallway and a big, spacious room. The ceiling to floor windows bathed the room in warm sunlight, as Bucky had suggested, this room seems to be as large as the entire first floor of the brownstone. Through the doorway, you’ll find a comfortable living area on the north side and a open kitchen and dining area on the other.

Similar to what we were hinted at with the graceful yet modern stairs, the large room is made up from dark wooden floors while the walls, ceiling and decorative molding are all painted white in unison. It’s evident that the designer intended for the space to have a contemporary, minimalistic vibe with the use of blacks, whites and muted colors of the furniture. While this is the case, the simplistic pieces are almost all covered with various decorative items with vibrant colors, while house plants- big, small, hanging off the walls, adorn the space with various shades of lucious green.

 

Bucky flopped onto the grey sofa, dragging his willing husband down to sit with him, the sofa is littered with a ridiculous amount of cushions- all different colours and patterns- which threaten to spill onto the ground at the two additions of weight, opposite the sofa sat two other velvet armchairs, a cherry wood round coffee table between in the space between, a widescreen television on the wall facing the big sofa.

“Steve loves the simplistic look, you might not be able to tell now, but that was actually what the house was designed to have when we renovated it.”

The captain nods with a bashful smile, “Back then, the way people decorated their homes were different. Most people aimed to fit as much as possible in their homes- it was a way of showing that they could afford luxuries. Now, the aesthetic is completely different and I love it!” He grinned, “I love the use of negative space in this century, there wasn’t much of it back then, it’s fascinating to me how the use of nothingness can convey beauty, so I really wanted the same style in our home. Except…” He trailed off, eyeing his chuckling husband sheepishly.

“Except I hate it.” Bucky finished for him, “I started acting at a very young age, and I’ve been living in hotel rooms most my life.” He explained with a shrug, “while Steve likes what most hotel rooms look like, I wanted our home to-”  He paused, apparently looking for the right words when Steve chipped in for him: “To feel like home?”

“Yes!” Bucky brightened, leaning into his husband briefly, “I wanted our place to look like a home, not somewhere that’s always pristine and clean like those hotels.”

He waggled his fingers, making Steve laugh, “Yep, and he always gets his way.”

“Sure do.” Bucky grinned at that, “We both travel all over the world, but since Steve is always too busy fighting villains when _he_ does, I tend to do a lot of shopping, and I like to pick up different pieces I come across.”

He toed the large fluffy grey rug underneath the coffee table, running his foot along the patterns, “this was from a market in Morocco for like, thirty dollars. I had to bargain for it.” he looked proud and his husband smiled down at him, affection clear in his clear blue eyes.

“That lamp there was actually a vase from India that Steve made into a lamp, that other floor lamp is from Ikea, so does that count as Swedish?” He laughed before continuing, “I’m a big lights person. And the stuff here! These amazing coasters are from Bali, that’s from Egypt..” He listed off as he pointed out the various objects on the coffee table “And the vase is from London? I think?”

He eyed his husband who had been gazing at him with adoration, Captain Rogers nodded with confirmation, “We bought that together when I visited him onset last year.”

Bucky beamed in recognition, “Right!” He turned back to us, “Yea, and the plants are all from local markets, so a lot of things from all over the place, as you can see, not very minimalistic anymore.”

His face fell momentarily then he broke into a small huff of laughter, “Oh God, I hope our designer doesn’t see this and gets offended, she’s amazing really.”

“I’m sure she won’t.” Steve reassured him before they stood to make way to the open kitchen and dining area.

 

-

“So this is where we cook.” Bucky announced, Steve looked at him with a smug glint in his eye, “Where I cook.”

“Where he cooks.” Bucky confirmed with a roll of his eyes, “When we first met we were both terrible cooks. But now he does most of the cooking, in my defense though- he has more spare time since the world isn’t in desperate threat of destruction _every_ single day.”

Steve nodded with a shrug, “I’m no Gordon Ramsay, so really I just make simple meals, this one gets a little picky though-”

He paused to chuckle when his husband pouted at him, “-he has exceptional taste so I try my best.”

He tapped the marbled surface of the kitchen counter, “With the kitchen I wanted something that cleans easily, so we ended up getting these gorgeous marble slabs to use as the countertops.” Then waving at the tiled kitchen wall, he explained: “The same with the walls, I knew I would end up doing most of the chores so easiness to clean was a big deal.”

 

 

 

“I do chores too!” Bucky piped in, resting his chin on his husband’s broad shoulder with a huff. The blonde superhero ran his fingers through his husband’s hair fondly with a wide grin, “Yes, he sits around and tells me what needs to be done-”

“-aaand that’s where we eat.” Bucky cut his husband off and stalked over to to the smooth, black rectangular dining table which the kitchen counter was facing.

The dining ensemble had rattan dining chairs lined up on one side of the table, a padded wall bench under the wide window on the other side. Above it was a Morris lantern made of glass panels and gilded iron-  another one of Bucky’s lights that are aesthetically pleasing more than they are practical, according to husband.

“This table looks like too big for two, but our friends like to join us and believe me- it does get crowded.”

Steve nodded earnestly next to him, a happy twinkle in his eyes as he speaks, “You’d think with Tony Stark in the group, his mansion of an apartment is where we’d all go to hang out, but somehow they all like to come here instead, it’s pretty great.”

  
  


-

 

Up the stairs and into the second floor is where we’ll find the master bedroom, compared to the living area, we are able to see more of the modern minimalism the captain likes in the master bedroom, with only a few pops of color as accents.

A tribal throw blanket is strewn across the cotton white sheets of the bed and Bucky wrapped himself around it immediately, letting only his face peek out as his lips curled into a cheeky smile that shadowed the 15 year old child actor he once was when he got his first major role as a teenage super spy almost ten years ago.  “I love this blanket, it’s a gift from our dear friend T’Challa when he came to visit us from Wakanda.”

Steve sighed but rolled the Bucky-blanket-burrito to one side of the bed gently to make space to sit down, “This is actually his natural habitat. You’ll find him like this ninety percent of the time he’s at home.”

He’s met with a sound of protest which he ignored, “I like to keep my sleeping space fairly tidy, so it’s a pretty simple space.” He pans us around the room, aside from the big bed they’re on and the pillows it contains, the bedroom consists of nothing more than a small wooden bedside table, a chair that seemed to hold things more than it was used for sitting, and a few house plants. Of course, there was another unique lamp that stood on legs that were designed to look like a camera tripod

Interestingly, aside from the beloved Wakandan blanket, the other pop of color comes from an American flag that is framed on the wall above the bed backboard.

“That flag’s kind of an inside joke, our friends gave it to us as a housewarming gift.” Bucky explained with a poorly suppressed giggle, still wrapped up in the comfortable blanket, “The flag's sentimental for us, aside from the whole cap thing. Long story short, it’s kind of how we met, so we ended up framing it.” 

His grin turned soft, "It's a nice reminder for me." He looked to his husband who responded with a gaze holding the same affection, the couple shared a moment until Steve jumped up from the bed and reached his arm out to his spouse, beckoning.

“Alright, let’s keep rolling or we’ll never finish touring the whole house.”

“Nooooo! This is comfy.” The actor rolled around on the bed, hugging the throw blanket to keep himself wrapped in it.

The superhero quirks an eyebrow, “Alright then.” He reached out his strong arms and gathered the human burrito into his arms, getting a scream from his husband, he grinned in triumph. 

“To the next room!” Captain commands, his booming voice accompanied by another delighted squeal.

 

-

 

“So I mentioned that Bucky spend ninety percent of his time at home like this.” Steve lowered his chin to jab it into his husband blanket wrapped shoulder. Bucky had given up on fighting halfway out the bedroom door and is now snuggling himself into his husband’s grasp contently.

“Well, he spends the the other half of the time-” he strode out the bedroom through the door situated on the other side of the staircase landing, once inside, he gently dropped the large bundle into the bathtub, earning another squeal from his other half, “-here”

-

“This is Bucky’s favourite room in the whole house.” Steve claimed, turning around a full circle to indicate how big the bathroom was, “As you can tell, it’s bigger than our bedroom.”

“No no no.” Bucky- finally untangling himself from the blanket and up on his feet and waved a finger at his husband with mischievous smirk, “most of you might think that I’m the vain one in this relationship, but Steve here,” he wrapped his arms around the blonde’s neck, “-spends more time doing his hair than I do. When we first started dating we fought over using the bathroom mirror so many times, we decided we’ll need two of them.”

As he pointed out, the big bathroom is made up of a bathtub with a wide mirror above it, a sleek modern shower, and another mirror that spans across the length of one whole wall, two sinks fitted beneath it. Two colorful rugs lay out on the grey tiled floor bearing similar tribal patterns of the Wakandan throw blanket.

“If I spend ten percent of my time here, then Steve spends thirty.”

Steve shrugged at the accusation, looking anything but guilty, “It’s a pretty swell bathroom." 

  
  


-

“Next!” Bucky skipped up the stairs, the Wakandan blanket still wrapped around him, the Captain followed behind with a much slower stride and an expression of amusement. He turned back to us, “the third floor doesn’t really have much, it’s pretty much all mine, mostly because Bucky’s too lazy to walk up two flights of stairs.” he said gravely, as if he was revealing a big secret,  and soon enough, an offended “Hey, I heard that!” floated down the stairs.

“He needs to get some exercise but he’s smug because he doesn’t put on weight no matter what he eats, and his fans are too nice to him.” Captain sighed like a tired parent, “He does look great no matter what, but it’s more of a health issue-” He’s cut off with a harsh ‘omph’ as soon as he reached the landing, a body throwing itself into his embrace and the faux- weariness on his face immediately gave way for something brighter.

“Tadaa!” The body- who of course, belonging to none other than the more dramatic half of the couple, detached himself from Cap’s embrace and spread his arms wide.

The room the last flight of stairs leads to is a wide space used as an office and painting room. It was by far the most cluttered room of the house- with newspapers, canvases and paints littered across the whole span of wooden floors. The exposed brick walls were lined with shelves that were filled to the brim with painting equipment and books, yet amongst the mess of _stuff_ , there was a somehow a eccentric kind of beauty and energy to the room that only came with an artist’s work space. In the middle of the room a big table with paints and sketch pads laid out, Bucky sat himself on the edge, but not without running his fingers on top of the rough surface first to check whether the paint splatters were dry.

“This is where Steve does his real job.” The actor joked, and the Captain immediately looked a little embarrassed.

“I paint as a hobby, as some people might know. I never intended to sell them for profit, but I do donate them for charity galas.”  He scratched his neck, a blush creeping up on his handsome face, “I’m not that great.”

Bucky nudged the hero as if he disapproved of his modesty, then turned to us with a beam. “Steve’s very talented, most of the artwork we have hanging around the house are actually his.”, if that was true- then the Captain certainly is a brilliant artist as much as he is a brilliant crime fighting superhero. 

Bucky turned our attention to the canvas that was on the easel now, it had only a neutral grey painted on in the background, but the pencil sketch on top indicated an drawing of a wolf. “He’s working on a piece right now, and when he works he tends to bury himself in here all day, so unlike what he said.” He gave his sheepish husband a full glare, “I _do_ come up here, to keep _him_ company. He just doesn’t notice me.”  
That prompted the superhero to wrap his arms around him into a tight hug, “You’re right, of course I notice,” he looked up at us with a shy smile, “I paint better when he’s here with me.”

Bucky seemed satisfied at that, turning to point at the smaller work desk at the far end of the room, the only piece in the room which seemed to be paint splatter-free. On it laid a laptop, several books with tabs sticking out of the edge, pens and highlighters split across the other unoccupied surfaces.

“I’m doing some research and working with a writer for my next project actually, I know a lot of people have been asking.” It was the actor’s turn to wear an expression that mirrored his husband’s embarrassment a mere few minutes ago, “It’s still in the works.”

“I assure everyone, it’s going to be really great.” Steve added after him with a teasing quirk of his eyebrows, and Bucky leaned back into his chest with a contented grin, “There you go! Captain America never lies, even for his husband. So stay tuned guys!”

  
  


-

 

“Okay, so this is us I guess.” Bucky shrugged, still in the embrace of his blonde superhero husband, who flashed his perfect teeth into a sincere smile, “That was fun! Thank you for watching us, we hope you enjoyed our home.”

“Yep, and for anyone getting creeper ideas, our house is equipped with both top notch Stark Industries _and_ Wakandan security systems, so don’t bother.” Bucky gave us a charming wink. 

As we retreated out the door, the cheery laughter of the couple was heard, just as we see Bucky Barnes turn around and plant a kiss on Captain Steve Rogers.

 

* * *

 

 

_Up Next:_

 

_Inside Tony Stark’s $50 Million Luxury Hamptons Holiday House | Open Door_

 

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**Author's Note:**

> \- "Open Door" is Architectural Digest's series on YouTube where celebrities give a tour of their house (if you have not seen it, you should do it NOW. RDJ has featured and his house is a freaking WINDMILL) honestly all the gay couples that have been featured are like GOALS.
> 
> -art is manips done with a combination of watercolor and sketch actions/ presets on PS, original photos are from intense Pinterest searching for interior/ decor/ brownstone design/ keywords alongside those lines.


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